Oh... My God

For a few days now I've been thinking about God, differently, I mean.  I'm always thinking about God.  I've just been spending quite a bit of time trying to figure Him out, you know?  Like how does being a believer work? There must be a key or some bottom line principle that makes this faith thing work.  As much as I have read and as much as I have prayed ( probably not nearly enough) I am unconvinced that I have discovered the bottom line.  I believe that I believe in God, but do I really? 

For example, I am so ready to go out and spread The Gospel.  Likewise I am ready to be used as an instrument of healing.  The list of "ready to" goes on ad infinitum to be in the service for others but what about me?  Do I believe in God for myself the same way I believe in Him for others?  Do you ever feel like you're telling people "Hey, you!  God is going to provide for you; I'm praying on your behalf!" but in the back of your mind you're thinking  I've prayed for myself, too, but I need provision today I've got to get a job now"? I have no doubt God will answer their prayer but as for me I've got work to do.  Is my God different than theirs?  And while I am on a roll with the questions how is it that I can easily tell someone that they are more than a conqueror and see nothing but a wimp when I look at myself?  What's really going on?  God is omnipotent.  God is omniscient, omnipresent, Healer, Provider, etcetera etcetera.  That God; their God is my God, too, isn't He?  The great I Am is mine right?  In Malachi 3:6 God, Himself clearly says " For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore he sons of Jacob are not consumed.  How easily we let ourselves be consumed with doubt when God says we are not.  The great I Am that I believe in for others I can most assuredly believe in for myself.  He is that God.  He is my God.

Are you familiar with the saying "Charity begins at home and then spreads abroad"?  Charity in Hebrew is the word agape and it means love, affection, benevolence, and curiously love-feast.  Can you imagine having a love-feast with God and having so much love left over you were then able to spread The Gospel or spread the love?  I think what happens is we have a love- feast with God on the behalf of others and not until they are full do we proceed to the table in a scramble for leftovers.  When they have a great need there are not much leftovers left over.  It is not because God isn't capable of meeting both theirs and our needs- no indeed!   Ephesians 3:20 clearly states "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." We worketh that power for everyone but us I'm afraid!  

We have access to petition our Father through prayer to have our needs met but tell the truth; don't you feel a little guilty when you do and think you're being selfish?  It's as if the devil interrupts our petition to ask if Johnny needs healing more than you need car repairs or if children starving in Africa need food more than your own. He tries to convince you that there is always a need greater than your own.  Thoughts such as those not only undermine the sovereignty of God but they also negate His power working in us.  You certainly can petition God! Philippians 4:6-7  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  If you're not yet convinced then refer to 2 Peter 1:3 whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts.  By all means make your requests known; partake!

What does all of that have to do with the key? What's the bottom line and how does being a believer work?  My friend there is one answer to all of the above questions, love.  It is because God so loves us we can petition to Him and make our requests known.  Because God so loves us we can partake of His exceeding great and precious promises.  God so loves us He sent His son to save us from the eternal damnation we deserve because of sin.   His Son sent us the Holy Spirit because He so loves us.  I am reminded of the Greek word sozo.  

Here it is as defined by: The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon

 Strong's Number:   4982   

Original Word Word Origin

sozo from a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saoz, "safe")

Transliterated Word TDNT Entry

Sozo 7:965,1132

Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech

sode'-zo      Verb

 Definition

to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

one (from injury or peril)

to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health, to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

to save in the technical biblical sense

negatively 1b

to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment 1b

to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

I would say love does all of that; God's love.  Now, let's all be ready to spread the Gospel and, as Jesus said, "These things I command you, that ye love one another." Let's love one another.

You're Hired! (This is another homework assignment- It will be interesting to see what the instructors think)

Eph 1:3-12  3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;  9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:  10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:  11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:  12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 

Can you imagine yourself after having applied for your dream job?  The above scriptures include the mission statement of the company and your job description.  It also details your sign on bonus.  You don’t necessarily have to worry about job performance at this point- you are holy and without blame before Him in love.  Your salary is according to the richness of His grace.  Now you are sitting in the Human Resources office after being given a job offer.  The HR manager has various forms for you to complete and sign including an I9 form and begins to explain the company’s benefits package.  The manager hands you a form imprinted with the following: Ps 103:1-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:  3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;  4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;  5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.  Not only do you have free medical insurance but life insurance is free and without limits.  The owner and founder of the company is truly the best Boss ever.  He is God and there is none like Him. 

The paperwork, as always, seems like an insurmountable stack but it’s all good things!  The list of benefits is longer than your job description.  The first form is entitled Benefits  and it contains the scripture Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  The benefits section describes how you are to act and your service to the company.  The next form is titled Renew since this particular company is like no other change is not mandatory; it is unavoidable.  The HR manager explains that the position has a way of changing paradigms.  Old ways of thinking seem to miraculously shift.  Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. There is a form that explains the medical insurance plan.  Unlike Obamacare with its thousands of pages this plan contains four:  Heals, Diseases, Redeems, and Forgives.  Through healing we are preserved.  We can declare by the stripes of Jesus we are healed.  We are given power over all manner of disease.  We are forgiven of our debts as we forgive our debtors.  We have the ability to cover and to pardon.  The major part of the medical plan is that we are redeemed.   We are free because of the ransom paid by Christ and we are His kin.  If that weren’t enough there is an added Incentive Plan.  It contains Lovingkindness so we have favor wherever we go.  It has Mercies so kindness and compassion abound.  Not to mention it also has Bless so we can seek divine help and guidance.  Best of all, although it is hard to choose we have Satisfies nothing can fill us like the Holy Ghost can!  This Employer provides job satisfaction beyond what we could ever imagine simply because our thoughts are not like His.  He will do beyond what we need exceedingly abundantly!  Now where is a pen?  I need to sign my "Welcome Aboard!" papers.

 

Ra'ah: To See or Not To See

After reading Numbers 21:4-9 two verses stand out in my mind and they are eight and nine.  Verse eight because it brought to my remembrance 1 COR 10:13- God will provide a way of escape from whatever you are going through.  He had done it for the Israelites on many occasions previously but, here, as it pertains to sickness and death, it really struck a chord in my spirit.  How many times has God needed to provide a means of escape for us?  Innumerable most likely.  We go about rebuking the devil when really we, like the Israelites, take our eyes off God and get ourselves into trouble.  We miss the mark when it comes to Ra’ah. The Israelites soon forgot how God was a cloud of protection over them by day and a fire by night.  They complained that God spared them from one thing only to lead them into something worse.  I cannot imagine anything that could be worse than 400 years of Egyptian slavery.  Not to mention they did not leave Egypt empty handed but with her wealth.  

Praise should have come from their mouths; not murmuring.  They were blinded by their fleshly desires and did not set their eyes on God.  God made provision for them yet they rejected it.  (Come to think of it Jesus was bread from heaven and He was also rejected)  Their soul loathed the light bread. I can only imagine how much it grieved God to see and hear His chosen people complain so.  It grieved Him so much that He sent fiery serpents to deal with them.  Speaking of serpents if you look up the Hebrew meaning of the word, the 5172 meaning according to Strong’s, the last part of it says learn by experience; diligently observe.  Essentially He sent serpents to remind them to Ra’ah.  Clearly they did not learn from their experiences with God.  They failed to diligently observe His ways.   How quickly do we forget the faithfulness of God and go through one circumstance after another complaining and asking why me?  It is by the grace of God that we are not in areas where fiery serpents in the physical sense are around us but those spiritual ones are more than enough to contend with.  We would not have to contend with them if we Ra’ah and learn by the experience of the Israelites and our own experiences that God is faithful and is with us each and every step of the way; His way.  Psalm 86:11 says “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth…”  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.  We should be ever mindful to Ra’ah and say teach me Jesus;  I will walk in Jesus.  Jesus is my life!  When the Israelites Ra’ah the serpent on the pole they were healed.  When we Ra’ah our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we can decree and declare by His stripes we are healed.  By His resurrection we have life! Let us not forget that Jesus overcame the world.  Let us not forget that God is for us.  

What I found to be most curious, though, is verse nine.  Moses has had quite the experience dealing with serpents, right?  Exodus 4:2-3  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said a rod.  And he said, Cast it on the ground.  And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.  In other words Moses got out of dodge!  Does God have a sense of humor or what?  You would think He knew that Moses had enough of serpents!  He certainly could have sent scorpions or something else.  At any rate, Moses understood the concept of Ra’ah.  He kept his eye on God and not his fear.  Moses remained obedient and set about accomplishing the task God had given him.  Equally curious to me is why God was not more explicit in His instructions to Moses beyond "make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole".  After all He gave Noah explicit instructions on how to make the ark.  The tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant had exact measurements and explicit instructions on how they were to be made but this life saving structure He left totally to Moses' own design.  Moses chose to make it out of brass but why?  Let’s take a look at brass and its symbolism in a few scriptures.

Jeremiah 6:28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron, they are corrupters.  Brass symbolizes the corruption that spread through the Israelite camp.  If you have one complainer in the camp it won’t be long before you have a multitude of them.  That verse perfectly describes the Israelites as they put their eyes off God and on their circumstance. They began to disregard God and Moses by speaking against them.  Ezekiel 22:18  also compares the Israelites to brass when they have gone astray:  Son of man, the house of Israel is to me dross; all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.  Dross, according to Merriam Webster, is the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal.  It is waste or foreign matter.  In Hebrew it is the word, soog and it refers to refuse.  Dig a little deeper and you will see it defined as to go back,  turn away, and it also says backslider.  Israel had turned into a nation of backsliders with their complaints.  

As believers we need to go through the wilderness and even the furnace but the point is not for us to be abandoned or consumed. We need to be purified and sanctified all the while keeping our eyes on God as we go through each process.  We should not get discouraged when we follow the way the Lord leads us.  Pure gold has gone through the fire to be rid of its impurities.  We are more precious than gold to our heavenly Father.  What does it take to rid us of our impurities?  

Let’s take a look at another scripture, Daniel 2:39, Daniel is interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  He says "And another a third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth".  Doesn't that sound like Christ,  the very One represented by the serpent on the pole? I see why God didn’t have to give Moses any further instructions on what to do. Moses knew what he was doing!  They say curiosity killed the cat but with the Bible curiosity reveals mysteries.  Besides I’d rather kill parts of me through learning rather than going through the wilderness and furnace all the time!  Amen?  I don’t need a fiery serpent to learn by experience.  Lord I pray not!  i don’t need a fiery serpent to diligently observe God.  I will Ra'ah; look to Christ.  Jesus the Christ bears rule over all the earth!  Jesus the Christ bears authority over sickness, infirmity, and death!  Jesus is the resurrection and the life, Ra'ah! Keep your eye on Christ and don't you dare blink!  Heavenly Father keep my focus on You!  By the stripes of Jesus Christ I am healed and I won’t dare blink.  I thank You, Father for Your precious Son who bears rule over all the earth.